The child died of measles in western Texas. This was the first known death from an outbreak of disease spreading in the state and neighboring New Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
Lubbock health officials and the Texas Department of Health Department said the patient was an unvaccinated school-age child who died in the past 24 hours.
Officials did not release any further information, but said a press conference was planned at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock on Wednesday afternoon.
Texas has identified at least 124 cases of measles in Texas since late January, mainly among unvaccinated children and teenagers. 18 people have been hospitalized.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease and can be life-threatening for people who are not protected from the virus.
Doctors say the best way to protect against illness can be two doses of vaccines. This is usually administered to children as a measles-mumpsulvera (MMR) vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine prevent more than 97% of measles infections, according to Texas health officials.
The South Plains area of Texas, where outbreaks are widespread, has vaccination rates that are far behind federal targets.
New Mexico also reports nine cases in Lee County, the southeastern state and the Texas border. Four of them are children under the age of 18, and all of them have not been vaccinated, according to Robert Knott, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Health. None of the New Mexico cases have led to hospitalizations, he said.
The outbreak is a concern as a public health secretary amid declining vaccination rates and growing concerns over the confirmation of prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Measles can be transmitted when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. Infected people will begin to develop symptoms within one to two weeks of exposure. Early symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes. Within a few days, a clear rash will erupt as flat, red spots on the face, spreading across the neck and the rest of the body.
Texas health officials are holding vaccination clinics and encouraging people to take the MMR vaccine.
